Guide to the La Torraca Naturalization Papers 1903-1961 MG 1620

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 
Descriptive Summary

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Access Points

Administrative Information

Container List

Naturalization and Personal Documents,
1903-1961

Guide to the La Torraca Naturalization Papers 1903-1961MG 1620Inventory prepared by Rebecca Haupt.

© 2004 All rights reserved.

The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher

Inventory prepared by Rebecca Haupt.

Finding aid encoded by Julia Telonidis. September 2004. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finding aid written
in English.

Biographical Note

The Alien Registration Act of 1940 was a federal act that was passed in order to ensure better record keeping regarding immigrants. It placed stipulations on immigrants in the United States by requiring the reporting of any address changes within five days for resident aliens, and every three months for students, visitors, or other non-residential immigrants. If not abided by, the government had the authority to penalize immigrants with a fine or imprisonment.

The Alien Registration Division, United States Department of Justice, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service also exerted a number of regulations governing the travel, residence, work, occupation, and possession of various items. These regulations and enforcement were heightened with the entrance of the United States into the Second World War. For those who did not comply, the government reserved the right to subject them either to detention or to internment for the remainder of World War II.

Paul (Paolo) LaTorraca emigrated from Naples, Italy on the Calabria vessel arriving at the Brooklyn’s Pier 29 in New York City on May 15, 1908. He settled in Newark, New Jersey where his sister Victoria Auroma resided. His wife Luigia Del Bagno died in 1930. The two had three children: Philomena LaTorraca Cunha, Mary LaTorraca, and Lucy LaTorraca. LaTorraca, who could not speak English, was reliant on his daughter Mary to assist in the completion of the naturalization forms.

 
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Scope and Content Note

This collection consists largely of a number of government issued documents of Paolo or Paul LaTorraca, resident of Newark, New Jersey. Also included are LaTorraca’s Italian passport, the birth and baptismal certificate of Paolo’s daughter Maria, and a plumbing and heating bill issued to Mary (Maria) LaTorraca.

The passport, issued in 1903, features an Italian validation stamp and the destination location is listed as New York City. LaTorraca was issued an Alien Registration Receipt Card, which features his signature and fingerprint. Both are also included in the Certificate of Identification along with his birth information. The certificated was stamped and approved by the Newark, NJ clerk in 1942.

Included in this collection are the documents of LaTorraca’s naturalization process. There are several Declaration of Intentions from 1908, 1929, 1942, all asserting his allegiance to the United States and renouncing any attachment or loyalty to King Victor Emanuel III of Italy. They also assert that LaTorraca had no involvement with any anarchist groups, renounced polygamy, and was willing to take a vow of support for the United States Constitution and its principles. Lastly, the collection also contains several copies of the Facts for Petition for Naturalization form, which also details LaTorraca’s emigration and affirms his attachment to the United States Constitution.

 
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Administrative Information

Custodial History

Gift of Daniel Obester of Johnston Letter Co., December 20, 2002.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 1620, La Torraca Naturalization Papers, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Processing Information

A majority of the documents are in good condition. However, several are extremely worn or have torn along folded creased lines. The passport has detached from the cover and other documents have experienced some ripping or have been folded at some point. The writing is still legible on the documents however a few are written in Italian.

 
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Container List

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